


Accidentally Saving Lives

by LoveMeImFab



Category: Hunter X Hunter, Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Basically, Blind Character, Dimension Travel, M/M, Time Travel, Time Travel Fix-It
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-15
Updated: 2017-04-25
Packaged: 2018-10-19 08:40:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,342
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10636308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LoveMeImFab/pseuds/LoveMeImFab
Summary: When the world has turned into hell, legendary artifacts that can turn time start to sound pretty good. Problem is, Gon got a bit distracted when activating it. Safe to say things didn't work out the way he had planned.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Wrote this today and haven't read over it. Sorry if it sucks.

He liked to reminisce sometimes, in the quiet moments when the world was completely silent. He would close his eyes, and try to remember  _ before. _ He could recall lots of green, blurry in his memories, but a color so vibrantly different to the black, brown, and red that filled his sights now. Blue was another color he hadn’t seen in forever. He thought it was what the sky used to look like, before the clouds turned black and covered it. The hardest thing to remember was what a clean world smelled like. Every time he tried, all he would smell was decay and dust. 

Silence was a blessing, a cursed one, filled with tragedy and heartache, but a blessing nonetheless. It meant there was no Eclipse nearby, and that, for just that one moment, he was safe. Safety wasn’t something easily come by anymore, not with the horrors roaming around the outside world. 

He had found a cave of sorts, a few chunks of what used to be parts of mountains had smashed together and created an opening big enough for his tiny body to squirm through. The inside was dark, but so was everywhere else, and he had learned to rely on senses other than sight- after all, he hadn’t needed to use it for quite some time. It was large enough for him to stand up and comfortably lay down with enough room for his things as well. 

Nowadays it was only one item that he carried with him everywhere, having lost all personal belongings years ago. The Stone Thing was his most important possession in this world, and the only thing that could save his life. After years of chasing down each and every piece, he finally had them all.

It was with trembling hands that he placed each individual part into the rather ugly whole, not that he had much to go on besides the shape of it. Why it was called The Stone Thing was because of the last, and most important part of the whole contraption- a flat and smooth, probably black rock. 

Taking a deep breath, he focused on his childhood, back before he became a hunter, and then he placed the stone in the three metal prongs. Nothing happened. 

His thought process stopped completely for a moment as he felt despair and hopelessness fill him. And then there was pain, worse than anything he had ever felt- like he was being squashed, and pulled apart, his bones turning to mush, and then hardening in all the wrong places. He couldn’t even describe the immense pain that wracked through his body, everything happening simultaneously and yet lasting for years, until it all finally just stopped. 

 

He woke suddenly, awareness flooding in within seconds, and he immediately wished he had remained blissfully unconscious, where the immense pain bombarding him from every direction could not reach him. 

He felt weak, and small, as if his entire body had been stuffed into a ball the size of a child’s palm. His whole body throbbed, specifically his ribs, as if he had been kicked there with too much force, and then a weighted anvil had been placed on them while he slept. Everything felt like one big bruise. Every part of his body, from the top of his head to the tips of his fingers and toes, was in sharp clarity- he could feel the blood rushing, and the muscles tensing against his will.

Despite all the pain, the most pressing misery was in his eyes. The light, even with them closed, the light was piercing and excruciating beyond belief. He had lived for years in absolute darkness, and now he was being bombarded with light that his body wasn’t ready for. It  _ hurt. _

Ignoring the protestations of his body, he lifted his left arm and placed his face in the crook of his elbow, darkening things considerably until he couldn’t feel that specific pain anymore- which unfortunately made everything else hurt more, especially the results of him moving his arm. 

Wishing to focus on anything else, he turned his incredible senses outwards. He could feel scratchy sheets beneath his exposed skin, and something softer than he had felt in years, which suggested he was on a bed. That meant The Stone Thing had worked to some extent since comforts such as beds didn’t exist anymore where he came from. Next on the list was finding out where he was.

He made a small sound, using a very handy form of echolocation that he had learned. Sound bounced back to his very attuned ears, and through that he was able to deduce that he was in a hospital type place, from what he could vaguely recall them looking like. His bed was halfway surrounded by a curtain on the right side, ending before the foot of his bed. To the left was a window that was slightly open. He didn’t quite know what was behind the curtain, but he figured it was other beds and a door. 

Outside the window he could hear some people walking around, talking and laughing with each other, which was quite the balm to his soul; being around living people again was so overwhelming, he didn’t know if he felt like he was going to cry from joy or run away from the situation he no longer knew how to handle. 

He listened as a little girl exclaimed loudly to her mother that these flowers will make her leg heal faster. A small smile unconsciously graced his cracked lips as he heard the mother laugh lightly and pick up her daughter to swing her around, the little girl squealing in delight. He felt his eyes burning up, his throat clogging, and his chest burning. These emotions were almost foreign, but he was so happy to be alive for this moment, to listen to the simple joys of a child and a mother. They were things he had forgotten, but it was well worth all the pain and heartache he had gone through, just so he could experience this one moment of pure happiness. 

Muffled voices to his right caught his attention and sobered him up. They were coming closer to his position, and even though they were obviously trying to be quiet, he could easily make out what they were saying.

“I apologize for the brashness, Hokage-sama, but we need answers!” This voice was male, sounding to be in his early thirties. He was speaking urgently and with an argumentative tone, but with an underlying note of respect. 

“I understand, Hamara,” an old and withered sounding man spoke up, “but he’s just a boy, probably the same age as your son. How would you feel if your eleven year old son was ruthlessly interrogated?”

_ What. _ The last time he had checked, he was in his twenties. And sure, maybe he had been malnourished, and a little short from stuffing himself into small caves, but there is no way that he could pass as an eleven year old... unless his body had gone back in time as well, and he was in the state of his younger self. Which, thinking about it, would make sense. After all, one of his pains was feeling like he was being stuffed into something considerably smaller than he was used to. 

“Ureta, can you tell me the state of his body?” The old man asked.

He perked up a bit, wanting to know everything that was wrong.

“He is severely malnourished and dehydrated,” a woman’s voice started, clinically detached, but with a professionally hidden note of concern. “His body has undergone a large amount of stress, stunting the growth. Several bones are incorrectly healed. His eyesight is greatly damaged, and his vocal flaps are thin from disuse. He may not ever be able to see again, and talking will be difficult for about a month or two. He is suffering from an extreme case of chakra exhaustion, to the point that it’s a clinical mystery how he is still alive.” She quieted down as the three of them reached his room.

The door opened and they shuffled in, walking to the foot of his bed. 

“Are you awake, son?” The old man asked, and he moved his head a bit, ignoring the sharp pain that inflicted on his neck. 

“Where did you come from?” Hamara asked gruffly. 

“Hamara-san,” Ureta cut in harshly, “talking will be difficult for him. Yes or no questions only. I must insist.”

Hamara huffed, “Do you know where you are?”

He shook his head. 

“You showed up in front of Konoha’s gates, unconscious. I find this all highly suspicious.”

“Hamara,” the old man cut in warningly.

“I apologize, Hokage-sama. Do you remember what happened to you?” 

Does he remember the years of the Eclipse? He nodded his head, pretty sure he could never forget that. What he doesn’t remember is ever hearing of a place called Konoha, or what chakra is, but he figured it was just one of those things that were swept away in favor of survival.

“What happened?” 

“Yes or no questions only, Hamara-san.” 

Hamara made a frustrated noise, “Fine! Someone else ask the questions!” Footsteps shuffled away and there was the sound of cloth shifting as it rested against a wall. 

“What is your name, young man,” the old man asked. 

He waited for the woman to reprimand him, but she said nothing. Clearly this man was the leader of wherever he was. “G-” He started coughing, nearly hacking up a lung, his body convulsing a bit. After a moment, he tried again, happier than ever that his name was only a single syllable. “Gon.” His voice was hoarse and barely above a whisper, but it was intelligible. 

“Well, Gon, it’s nice to meet you. I am the Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen.” He sounded kind, and trusting, but Gon could tell he was just a bit wary of him. “I’m assuming you are about eleven?” He left it open ended, waiting for Gon to agree or disagree. Gon did neither, choosing instead to shrug, unsure what this body’s exact age was until he looked in a mirror, which would probably be impossible, if what Ureta said was correct and he was blind- not that he had many issues with that, it was what he was used to.

“Have you already graduated the academy?”

_ Academy? _ Gon had never gone to school before, so he shook his head.

“Then as soon as you are healed enough, you will be joining the graduating class. We will give you a private tutor to help you with whatever you have missed.” He turned away to address Hamara, “Get Hyuuga Asuka and tell her that she’ll be getting her practical experience.” 

“Yes, Hokage-sama.” Gon could hear as Hamara left them, closing the door rather loudly. 

“Asuka is a teacher in training,” Hiruzen explained, “but before she can become a full time instructor, she has to tutor someone.”

Gon nodded to show he understood.

There was silence as they waited for Gon’s new tutor. Two minutes later, Gon heard Hamara whispering to someone as they came to his room, “This is going to be a tough one, Hyuuga-san. He can’t see or talk, but for some reason, the Hokage thinks he can still be a shinobi.”

“If the Hokage thinks he should be a shinobi, then I will do my best to make sure that happens.” Hyuuga Asuka had a wonderful voice, kind and melodious, Gon felt that he could listen to it all day, which he probably would get the chance to. 

They walked through the door, and both of the newcomers greeted Hiruzen. 

“This is Gon,” the Hokage said, introducing him to Asuka. “He’s eleven, and needs to get caught up at the academy. Your job will be to tutor him while he’s healing, and if he needs it, then while he’s in the academy. He can’t see, and talking is difficult, but Ureka said he will be capable of full speech in about a month, if it’s practiced. Do you think you can handle it?”

Asuka was quiet for a moment, and Gon had half expected her to decline. “I accept the job offer, Hokage-sama.” 

Hiruzen sounded significantly more chipper when he spoke next, “Wonderful! Then I shall leave you two to get acquainted.” Three pairs of footsteps walked out of the room. 

There was an awkward silence for a few moments, “Gon, was it? My name is Hyuuga Asuka. You can just call me Asuka-sensei.” She paused, as if waiting for a response. The quiet was uncomfortable. 

She finally started moving, and Gon listened as she walked around the room, grabbing a chair, and setting it next to his bed. “So,” she said, dropping into the seat, “I’ll tell you a bit about me, to start off. I’m twenty-five years old, and a branch member of the Hyuuga clan. I’m only a chunin, but becoming a jounin didn’t really interest me. Since I was in the academy, I had been fascinated with becoming a teacher, and inspiring young minds. I took all of the classes, and I’m well studied, I assure you... But I will admit that you are the first student I will take on.” Gon nodded, not really minding. It would help if he actually knew what half of her introduction meant, but she used so many strange words that Gon knew almost nothing more about her than he did when she had just walked in. “Now, I want you to try talking. I know it will hurt, but you have to exercise it a bit. Tell me something about you, okay?”

Gon nodded, and then focused on what he wanted to say. Through everything, he had figured something very important out, and it was time that he started getting some answers. “I-” he coughed twice, “I think... I'm from a different world.”


	2. Chapter 2

Sadly, life wasn’t as easy as Gon wished it was, so his proclamation that he came from a different world, was taken as proof that he didn’t have a good childhood, and that someone was abusing or brainwashing him. Which, to be fair, was a good assumption. If an eleven year old that had plenty medical signs of abuse and malnutrition said that they were from a different world, many would assume that they were either joking, or had been placed in a facility to be experimented on. 

So Gon was now subjected to learning everything about everything, which was amazing, because that was what he wanted in the first place. He could do without the nurses acting like he was a delicate two year old, though. 

Aside from the babying, Gon learned plenty about the world he had landed in, confirming that it was indeed a different dimension, not just a place that he had forgotten about. 

In the daytime the nurses, called medic-nin, would come and re break and heal his bones, making some of the pains he had learned to ignore disappear completely. Sometimes, when Asuka-sensei wasn’t around, he would go on walks out in the gardens. 

He had commandeered a thick piece of cloth which he wrapped securely around his eyes, making everything a comfortable black. It was obvious how uncomfortable he made people, walking around without sight, clicking his tongue every few seconds, but he wanted to get around without help, and try to figure things out for himself. 

It took three days, but he had created a pretty accurate map in his mind of the whole hospital, all without help. He felt pretty proud of himself. Outside was the harder part, where there were no enclosed spaces, but he had been echolocating on nearly flat plains for years, so having the trees around was making everything easier. 

On his fourth day of wandering outside, he found the hospital training ground, which, if the lessons didn’t make it obvious enough, reaffirmed in his mind that almost everyone was a fighter of sorts. Shinobi, they were called. And soon, in about three weeks, he would be going to a school to become a shinobi, which was pretty exciting to him. Before, when he was told he was going to be going to the academy, he had been quite unenthusiastic at the thought of sitting in some classroom and being forced to learn math and such. But now that he knew he would be learning how to fight- not that he didn’t already know, but it would be interesting to learn another style- he decided that he couldn’t wait for the time to move faster. 

Gon had always been a free spirit, preferring to be outside instead of locked in a room. The medic-nin quickly found this out, and were immediately displeased. It became a game to him, something to fill his time and attune his senses even further. He would escape his room and head outside, avoiding those that felt like they had more energy- which he found out was the chakra flowing through them- and finding hiding places. To make it even harder, he tried to differentiate each person from another, learning how to tell people apart. 

It took a week before he started to be able to tell people apart without the use of his nen, just using his senses, examining the way that they walked, the little sounds they made unconsciously, and most importantly, the way they smelled. He had forgotten how amazing his sense of smell had been before the apocalypse in his world. Back then, he hadn’t  _ wanted  _ to smell anything, namely the rot and decaying flesh. But now that the air was clean once again, he relearned about the very  _ very _ useful ability. Sound and scent were his two most useful abilities, since his sight was useless. 

When he found the training ground, he was overjoyed, excited to see if he can accurately hit things without vision. To say it was a big space was being extremely generous. It was a gated area, a couple trees in the corner, a place for target practice, and a pitiful weight training area. It made sense though, why it was so tiny; this was a place of healing, so they wanted to start their shinobi patients out small, letting them work up to handling the large training grounds when they’re healed. 

Gon though, with how weak he felt, was happy that they had a weight training place, and that he would be able to reach all the corners of the area without straining his healing body too much. He had always healed faster than most, but his body still wasn’t ready to handle his normal training. 

Luckily there was a table of weapons a good distance from the targets, because Gon didn’t know what else he was going to use to try to hit them. The kunnai was slightly dulled, but weighted enough to actually stick in things. 

Gon clicked his tongue, listening for where the target was, then poised his hand in the position he had learned so long ago, taking a deep breath, and flinging the kunnai forward. He felt like shouting celebrations when it hit the round board. It wasn’t in the center, but for a first try, he figured it was pretty damn good. He grabbed another kunnai, this time focusing on the weight and the feel of the metal, running his hands up and down the cold steel. After a moment of getting acquainted with the weapon and twirling it around, he threw it, this time getting much closer to to the center of the board. 

He spent an hour there, throwing different weapons, getting to the point that he could always hit the center. Before he could start practicing catching weapons from the air, the nurses found him and dragged him back to his room for his daily group therapy. 

The only interesting part of this part of his day was listening to the other people talk about their life experiences. Some of them killed too many people, some were heavily abused, and some just had mental disorders. It was different talking about his own life, because for one, he had to pretend like he hadn’t lived twenty plus years, and also, no one ever believed him. The hardest part though, was remembering the pain he had forced down when everyone he knew had died. It did help, in some weird, twisted way, even though the therapist always attempted to fix his ‘brainwashing’ problem instead of the fact that he had PTSD. 

“So then the world got taken over. First the Eclipse attacked the civilians, those that couldn’t protect themselves. They were gone in what we call the first wave. We call the things the Eclipse, not for any real reason, just that it sounded better than the other options. They were fast, and could fight. There was nowhere to hide, and they wouldn’t die unless you destroyed every part of the body. If you get bitten or die, then you’ll turn into one. The Eclipse were... horrifying. Glorified rotting corpses that had more power than you can imagine. There was no end to them. Their rot poisoned the air, killing off animals and stopping plant growth. The destruction from fighting them destroyed all buildings and trees, contaminating the water. Smog filled the air until the world was pitch black. A few of us held on, banded together, and made the most of it. But they all died out eventually, leaving me alone. Killua was the last to go... he was my best friend. We met years ago and did everything together... too bad we couldn’t die together. He died years ago, leaving me all alone, the last human to survive, until I found a way out. And now I’m here.” 

His throat hurt after all that, and he had stopped a few times to cough up a lung, but he got it all out. To save his sanity, he hadn’t gone into detail about everything, but even that amount hurt his heart. All he wanted to do was go back to the training ground and beat something up until he felt better, but the medic-nins strongly dissuaded burying his feelings.

So after group therapy, he went back to his room and hid under a blanket, ignoring when a medic would come in to check his vitals and try to heal his body. 

Asuka was a really nice person, and a great teacher. She taught him about chakra, and how to access it. She had let it slip one day, that the Hyuuga clan, with their eyes, could see the chakra coils within someone, and if they hit the points where the chakra coils met with chakra enhanced hands, they could close them and seriously hurt the person. 

That got him thinking about how he could use his aura- his nen. There was Gyo, the focus of his nen around his eye area, used to see other people’s nen. One day, he tried it, despite the fact that he had the thick cloth around his eyes, he activated Gyo.

Surprisingly it worked, to some extent at least. He was now able to see people’s chakra coils, but nothing else. It was kind of weird, watching congested colored lines in human shapes walk around. The civilians had a pale yellow, they were small and unadapted, but beautiful nonetheless. Genin, the lowest rank of shinobi, had thin, but strong, lines of blue. Chunin coils were a vibrant green, while jounins had thick, dark red coils. It wasn’t based on rank, but strength. Genin were usually the weaker of the shinobi, but he had seen a few blue-green coils, showing them as stronger than their peers. He only activated his Gyo occasionally, mostly when he was too lazy to use his senses- which came to him naturally, but he didn’t want to analyze them. 

With Gyo, he had found that he had yellow-blue chakra coils, which meant that he could use chakra, but he was super weak. 

“Asuka-sensei?” He asked as she walked into his room. “Can you teach me some jutsus? I want to get stronger.”

She was silent for a moment. “Well, I can teach you the ones that the other students have already learned. You won't be expected to master them, of course, but it’s a good idea to learn them before you go.” With that, they went outside to the training ground, Gon acting like he had never been there before, since his teacher didn’t know that he was practicing. 

Asuka led him over to the trees where there was a small clearing. 

“We’re in the hospital training yard right now.” She clarified, “This first jutsu is called a henge. It’s the ability to use your chakra to transform into someone else for a moment. Now, this might be difficult for you, since you don’t know what people look like. But I’ll describe someone for you to change to. First, do this sign,” she positioned his hands correctly. “Now, imagine a man with green hair, and blue eyes. Do you have the picture?” Gon nodded, picturing a tall man with spiky green hair, several piercings, and dark blue eyes. In his mind, the man was wearing a tye dye shirt, and skin tight pants, with boots laced up to his knees. “This is the hard part,” Asuka continued, “you need to channel your chakra throughout your body, focusing on the image of the man, while also making each hand sign. It helps people focus to say the words, but it’s not needed. I’ll be right here, watching your chakra and telling you what you need to do differently. Alright, go ahead and try it.”

Gon took a deep breath, and imagined the chakra in his coils growing brighter, moving outwards, and quickly transforming him into the man in his mind. There was a popping sound, and Gon suddenly felt taller. “Did it work?” He asked excitedly. 

“... well. I think you need a bit of practice.” Gon nodded, understanding that this, like hitting a target, wasn’t going to be perfect on the first try. 

“What do I look like?”

Asuka was silent for a moment, “Really tall, skinny, green hair, blue eyes. You did well. But, um... the face... how do I say this. Everything is hair except for the eyes. Also, did you mean for him to have pink skin, and be naked?” 

Gon started laughing, nearly falling over with the force of it. His concentration broke and he faded back into himself just in time for him to fall onto the floor, weak from laughter. “Sorry about that,” he said, when he recovered, standing up. “It didn’t turn out as I had planned, but there’s time to try again. What did you notice in my chakra?” 

“Half way through your transformation, it fluctuated, rushing to your head instead of remaining even throughout your body. Another thing we need to work on when you get the transformation down, is going faster. That took two minutes from when you started gathering your chakra.”

Gon nodded in consideration, thinking about how he could stop his chakra from fluctuating. “Why do you use hand signs? If your chakra is only travelling through the body, the hands do nothing.” 

“Good question,” Asuka praised, “the hands are used as a focus. The signs have power. By putting the majority of your chakra into your hands, the rest travelling through your body, for this jutsu at least, then it’s activating it, in a way. Think of it like a lake going into the ocean. The water is flowing everywhere, but most of it is going to the opening of the ocean. That is your hands. Try again.”

He focused on the same image, this time, instead of forcing his chakra to do his bidding, he let it flow, like a river, growing more rapid until it flowed everywhere, pooling in his hands, but also overflowing until it reached every little part of his body. Then he transformed. 


	3. Chapter 3

The time had finally come for him to become an eleven year old student at the academy for shinobi. Even though he had been fully healed a week ago, Asuka had him wait because the new term didn’t start until now. During that time, he had made his chakra go from yellow-blue to full electric blue, which was a great achievement to him, considering that chakra is a completely different concept than nen. 

Where nen is mainly outwards, and using your aura to create your ability, chakra is inside your body, forced outwards to create power. Chakra is considerably more exhausting as well, Gon had found. Of course, he had gotten to a point in his nen where he could use it all day and not get tired. He supposed that he would get to a point like that in chakra, but for the moment, it was completely exhausting. 

The day before, Asuka and Gon had visited the shopping district to get him clothes that weren’t his torn up attire he had arrived in, or the supposedly horrendous hospital garb. They went to several different clothing stores, Asuka letting Gon feel the clothes as she described them. Gon was fine with whatever, but as it turned out, Asuka was a fashionista, and wouldn’t let her ‘precious little student’ go to school in ugly clothes. 

There was an awkward moment after they had finished shopping, because now Gon was loaded down with bags of clothes, but he also had nowhere to go as he had been discharged from the hospital that very day. Asuka ended up inviting him to stay with her, as she lived alone and at the edge of the Hyuuga compound. So, within a day, Gon gained a new wardrobe and a home. For the moment at least. 

When he had woken up in the morning, on a blissfully comfortable bed, Asuka had spent an hour settling on a single outfit for him. According to her, and with the feel of the clothes, he was now wearing black, skin tight, yet stretchy long pants tucked into dark blue shinobi boots. His shirt was a soft mesh with a dark blue, high collared and sleeveless jacket left open. Asuka had even bought him a new black cloth to cover his eyes instead of the scratchy hospital rag he had stolen. 

And now he stood outside the academy after being led there by Asuka. He made a mental note to escape sometime and make a map of the entire town so he didn’t have to be taken everywhere. 

“I’ll take you to your classroom, and then I have to go. Pay attention and make lots of friends.” She sounded like she was going to cry. “I’ll come pick you up after school and we can go out to eat.” 

She suddenly went silent, which Gon knew meant she was getting too emotional. “Come on sensei, I don’t want to be late.” 

“Right,” her voice was a bit thick, so she cleared her throat. “Let’s go.” She placed her hand on his shoulder, which she normally didn’t bother to do, and lead him through the confusing hallways until they reached a semi-loud classroom. Some kids were talking to each other and goofing off while the teacher was trying to teach. Everyone went silent as the door opened, admitting Gon and Asuka. 

“Is this our new student?” Came the voice of the teacher. His clothes shifted as he crouched down to Gon’s current height. “I am Iruka-sensei. What’s your name?”

“Gon,” he replied.

“Alright Gon, you can go take a seat and we’ll get started.” Gon clicked his tongue in the direction of the students, finding a seat that was empty and walking towards it by the time Iruka noticed that he had just told a blind kid to find a seat without help. 

Gon collapsed into an empty seat and turned to the kid next to him. “Hey. I’m Gon.” 

“Sasuke.” Was the short reply. 

“Cool. Want to be my friend?”

Sasuke was silent, as if considering. “No.”

_ Well, it was worth a try. _ “Okay.” He turned in his seat to face forward, outwardly sitting still, but he was listening to every whispered conversations, learning his classmates and the little tics they had. At some point, he had activated his Gyo to look at the power levels. Mostly they were blue, or yellow-blue. There were a few blue-greens, like Sasuke. One of the kids had a fucking massive amount of chakra swimming through his coils, but it was a yellow-blue color, saying he had the potential to be powerful, but he wasn’t quite there yet. 

The schedule was as follows; theory, ninjutsu, and genjutsu in the morning, lunch, then practicing taijutsu outside until they go home. Today, Iruka taught them the theory behind the clone jutsu and then had them practice it. Gon did fairly well, mainly because he didn’t have to know what he looked like to do it. On his second try he had made a nearly perfect clone, just forgetting to give it a bit of chakra to get it moving, so he felt pretty proud of himself.

Lunch was mostly boring. Gon didn’t eat, choosing instead to go around and look for a friend. He ended up just laying under a tree, thinking that friends were overrated anyway. Five minutes later, another person joined him. 

“Why do you wear that band around your head?” His voice was lazy, like he couldn't be bothered to hurry. 

“Because the light hurts, and I can’t see anything anyway.” 

“So you’re blind?” His voice gained a note of surprise. “Huh. I never would have guessed.”

The two sat in silence for a moment, enjoying the light spring breeze. “Do you want to be my friend?” Gon figured he might as well ask.

“Sure. Just don’t wake me up.”

Gon could do that. And now he had a friend. “What’s your name?” 

“Shikamaru. Nice to meet you, Gon.”

The class stayed outside after lunch, moving to the school’s training grounds. They ran through a couple katas, Gon activating his Gyo so he could watch the basic outline of the teacher as he did a few moves, and ensuring that he could copy them effectively. 

Taijutsu was completely different from all the fighting styles Gon had learned in the past. This was more fluid and relied heavily on mental fortitude as much as, if not more so than physical strength. Chakra wasn’t necessarily needed for taijutsu, which made it the go-to fighting style for shinobi. Basically it was an elegant form of hand-to-hand combat, built from repetition and building up stamina and speed. He had only ever learned how to fight with fists, going head-first into situations. Killua had forced into his head how to use weapons, but he couldn’t quite learn the martial arts of the Zoldyck family. 

Taijutsu was easy for him to learn. Perhaps because it flowed well with his new abilities, relying on senses to anticipate the opponent’s next moves. The katas weren’t too difficult either, and he already had the speed and the strength necessary to be good at it. Taijutsu was one field he could be proficient in even if he ended up failing miserably at the whole chakra thing. 

After several minutes of attacking the air with the designated moves, Iruka told them to find a partner and spar. Gon stood there, activating his Gyo so that he could find a strong opponent to battle. 

As it turned out, he didn’t have to try very hard, as one of the blue-green kids came to him.  “Hello, do you want to be my partner?” The voice was female, and a bit squeaky, but sweet to listen to. She sounded a bit shy, but mostly like she was a little kid, younger than eleven. 

“Okay,” Gon agreed, “What’s your name? I’m Gon.”

“I’m Kagura.” 

“Kagura,” the teacher called, “You’re going to have to put away your stuffed animal for this exercise.”

There were a few snickers from the other children. “But Jupy helps me fight,” she complained. Silence reigned as the teacher considered for a few moments. 

“Alright, just this once,” Iruka said placatingly. Gon somehow knew that this had happened before, and this would not, actually, be the last time Kagura fought with her stuffed animal. “Get into the beginning position,” Gon stood, feet shoulder length apart and hands relaxed at his side. “Remember, this is a friendly spar, I don’t want serious injuries.” Gon half wondered how they could properly learn without injuries, after all, his training in his previous life had been filled with broken bones, bruises the size of his face, and muscles so sore he couldn’t move the next day. This was all a bit too slow for him, but he figured he could always practice on his own. “Begin,” Iruka shouted.

Gon deactivated his Gyo as he bent down in the customary bow of respect. It wasn’t testing his abilities completely if he didn’t learn how to fight without his Gyo activated. 

He breathed in deeply, listening as Kagura’s clothes shifted lightly, the dirt sprinkling against the ground as she almost silently darted forward, leg swishing through the air, high enough to hit his head. He dodged at the last second, dancing out of the way, arms slightly extended in front of him as he twirled around her on light feet. A hand came next, aimed for his stomach, and almost too fast for him to dodge, but he had heard the quiet swoosh of her clothes against each other, the air molecules parting as her fist aimed forward. 

She made a small frustrated noise as each of her jabs were dodged, “Don’t just run away, that’s not very nice.” Kagura threw another kick, low to the floor with the intent to trip him, but he quickly flipped over her crouched body, hands lightly pressing down on her shoulders to give him a bit of a boost. Deciding to try something, on the last second before he completely lost contact with her body, he channeled a very small amount of chakra into his hands, releasing it as his fingertips left her skin. Just as his feet lightly touched the ground behind Kagura, she fell to the floor, a squeak of surprise echoing from her lips. 

“I apologize for not attacking you, I was practicing dodging. The real spar can begin now.” Gon stood there, listening as she breathed harshly, picking herself up off the floor. Half an ear was trained on the other students, interested in the sound of pounding skin against skin, as well as people flying through the air and landing harshly on the ground. Despite not knowing who was who, it was interesting for him to listen to the different fighting styles and who was better at what. “Do you mind if I ask you a question?” She was still trying to stand up, making Gon feel a little guilty about using so much force, but filing away the knowledge that releasing pure chakra could be a dangerous weapon. 

“Sure, what’s up?” She still sounded a bit cheerful, despite how annoyed she probably was. 

“How does- Jupy was it?- how does she help you fight?” 

Kagura giggled, “She makes me happy! And you can’t fight while sad, silly. That just makes you mess up!” She finally stood up, getting into position. 

“That’s fair,” Gon conceded. “I don’t have anything like that.” 

She giggled again, “Then think of something that makes you happy, and focus on that. Fight for something, and even if you lose, you will have fun.” Although the logic was a bit flawed, Gon could see the wisdom in what she was saying. 

“Think of something happy, huh?” He said mostly to himself, but she made a noise of confirmation. He thought through all of his memories, most of them making him feel a bit depressed, so he thought of the simple things. Like laughter, and the smell of nature, things he wanted to protect, and live to experience. “Okay,” he whispered, unconsciously smiling a little, “Let’s try again.”

This time Gon striked first, shifting forward at a speed he thought he had lost, fist flying in front of him. Kagura squeaked and dashed out of the way, Gon feeling the fabric of her shirt brush his knuckles. He used the force of the punch to go into a twirling handstand and kick his legs outwards, this time catching her right in the stomach. The breath left her in an audible whoosh, the force of the kick sending her back a few meters and knocking her off her feet. Gon winced guiltily. He had reigned in about ninety percent of his strength, but apparently he was still too strong, even without going through his usual intense training. 

“I am so sorry,” he said, rushing over to where Kagura was laying on the ground and coughing every other breath, “I didn’t mean to hit that hard.” Gon helped her sit up, resting a hand on her back, and rubbing up and down, listening as the teacher ran over.

“What happened?” Iruka asked urgently, kneeling down to their level and presumably checking over Kagura.

“I accidentally used too much force in my kick.” Gon explained glumly, knowing he would probably get in trouble. It was his first day, and he already couldn’t function as a normal human being.

The other students’ sparing had stopped, the children gathering around Kagura, watching. Some were whispering among each other, accusing Gon for hurting Kagura, the nice, cute kid that everyone loves. Gon sighed silently, knowing that he was now an outcast. Maybe Shikamaru would decide that he didn’t want to be Gon’s friend anymore. 

“It’s okay,” Iruka cut in, “She just got the wind knocked out of her. No serious injuries.” It was said as an attempt to lighten the mood, but fell a bit flat, everyone hearing the obvious concern in his voice.

They all stood there awkwardly as Iruka asked Kagura if she was okay, or if she wanted to sit out for a bit. She decided to recover on the sidelines, so the teacher told all the students to get back to practicing until school was over. Gon, now partnerless, sat down next to Kagura on the hard ground.

“I really am sorry,” Gon tried again. Kagura shifted towards him, “There hasn’t really been time for me to work on my strength yet, so I overreacted.”

Kagura made a small noncommittal noise, “It’s okay. I’m going to be fighting super strong people soon anyway. It just makes me mad that just one kick and I’m already out.” She sighed, shifting around. “I’m the only shinobi in my family, and they all want me to be strong, but I get knocked out from a single kick.” 

Gon nodded, not really sure what to say. She sighed again and rested her head on Gon’s shoulder, surprising him. 

“You’re really strong. We should train together some more.” She sounded considerably more chipper now as she nuzzled her head into his neck. “You’re my best friend.” Gon’s eyebrows rose for a moment, but eventually smiled, relaxing into the girl next to him. “Do you want to hold Jupy?” Kagura asked, not waiting for his answer before shoving the plush into his hands. He held onto the squishy toy, rubbing his hands along the incredibly soft fabric, tracing the shape of it. His hands ran down the length of its body, feeling the fluffy tail, chubby legs, and soft ears. 

“Is this a rabbit?” He asked quietly.

Kagura was silent for a moment, then softly, she wrapped her arms around him, “Yes. She’s white with black spots, green eyes, and floppy grey ears.” Gon smiled happily, cuddling into both Kagura’s arms and the silky fur of the rabbit Jupy. He had forgotten what it felt like to be held, but this moment was one he never wanted to forget. 


End file.
